Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-12-03
THE TIMBER LANDS
or Arizona and other Notes in Reference
 to the Flora of Our Territory.

Note. of the Botauists with Id. Wheelcr's
 Expeditions. by John A. Spring.)
 If verdure and superabundBnt vitality were the expression of plant life on the timber clad Mogollon Mess. in the val ley of the Gils, hardness of texture rDd contraction of form would be chnT5c- teristic of the flora. The attempt to make sn analysis of One's feeling on be- ing somewhat unexpectedly brought face to face with this peculiar vegetation would be futile. Bs no point of cOmPAFi- son appears to offer. The giant Cactus occupies the hillsides who have a south ern and southeastern exposure aud the mesa lands, towering up to a height Ot from 30 to 50 feet. Fogquieris splsnd- cps (Mexicsn Oeotillo) with its bluish green leaves on long vaDdliks trunks and its tip of scarlet flowers. Asava Palmer and Psrryi, and various species of Darylirusm, dry, rigid skeletons Of plants without the living green. the bar rel shaped mammilsrs with its steel hard prioks and hooks, the oval shaped heshy leaves Of the opuntis; the Csnoua (Pelo veTde), a tree reaching a height O! 20 feet, e foot In diameter, with green branches provided with stum8ts, but no -NuNCAt A4A kO bO HIS ENA4r what iesolste floral landscape. While the Mimosse, Acscise BDd Csliandrse. risIns to the dignity of trees or dwarfed to mere underbrusb, inhGbit the less dry hillsides and Tnvines, but stIll by their small leaves and hardened tissues show that they, too. have the impress Of ihe dry, hot soil about them What iht vegetation and climate of this valley may once have been we have nov To mcaus of certainly knowing. It is. hoEover, in the highest degree probable, that with sufficient irrigation the soil would produce anything adapted to iis iagre- dients. Along the highest bluffs bach from the river, one stIll secs tho ruins of ancient pueblos, and ir many places traces of agricultural operations.
 Barren as the soil appears in iis pres ent dried condition, 1t has the capacity for the production of luxurisnt crops of cora, barley, cabbage, onions, potatoes and vatermelons where wSier can be furnished. (J. T. Rothrock, botGnisi io ihe expedition of 1878. "A, and 70.
 Leaving here sn altitude of less thar 1000 feet, VIC again begin she ascent over rolling country, and reach, some tEenty miles to the south, sn altitude of 1885 feet, st New Camp Grant. North O! this. Mount Graham rises ou. of the plain, and GttRins sn altitude Of lO,351 feet. 1t is stated by Mir. Gilbert, (geolo- gist with Lt. WheeleI(, 10 be made up on its southeastern face, of gneissio rocks and sYenite, the great mass being prob ably metanorphio. At s single Isolated center, ii presented more novelties than any other spot visited by the expedition. Pices EngelmRnni was found eyeE % far south, and several other more western species were obtained from near iis sum init. As might be expected, PIrgs pon- derOsa was found to be the prevailing tree. attaining magnificent proportions. Skirting the Hanks lover down sTe found growing abundsntly, the Nsdrcfis (Ar- butus MenE!esii) but not here sii.iniDg a height greater than 10 or II feel. The oaks do not range higher than .5v0 feet on tse slope of this mountain. The The northern slope of Mount Graham has barren aspect, the timber sppaT- ently 10. reaching 60 low level ss ou the southern side. Tsis may be due to the sleeper declivities as well as Co the greater heat rsdIated from the Gils val ley. In the mere open woods, from 1000 to 5000 feet, bunch grass grows most luIurisntly, aud the moister rLvines leading down to the plain, sedges groS iu dense mssses, and furnish, (ourrent teaching to the contrary notwithstBnd- inR). much prized food for the stock ranging on the muuntsin.
 The PinRlelO range, Of which Mount Graham may be regarded As the culmi- nation. trends of towards the southeast, becoming reduced more and more as ii hears Railroad Pass, distance of about twenty miles from Fort Grant This paEs seF!es to connect ArlvgIps Valley on q e west, with ihs plains Of San Simon op the east. This flst dry region bas vary ing altitude of from i, ,239 feet, st Eureka Springs to s,S33 feet at Camp Grant, and thence descending to 3,4S5 feet at Whit locks CieneGa-
 Csnp Bowie, si.uaied in Apache Pass. n iLe CEirioshus Tlnge, which may be considered 6s CD the southern border of .bs Simon Plains, has an altitude of ,S72 feet.
 In the sandy RrrOycs on She route from Grant to Bowie, nre found growing Bsc- ehsris sergilloides end B. caerulesceus. tso plants which will hardly grow uuless their roots can reach vAter and it is fac. thst water can be had wherever they are found, by digging to @ little depth. Tesssris boreslIs is also com mon plsn. of the region.
 On the limestone rocks near Camp Bowie, Cevallia sinusta and MBorosip- honia brsohysiphon are quite frequently met with. but the Ariemisiss no longer form such prominent feature as north of the Mogolisn mesa.
 The immense stretch of plsiu from Osmp Grant, south. gradually becomes lower, until at Tucson it IS but 2, 400 feet above the sea This plain, although in ihe main dry, is covered with lu1urient growth of Rresses of nutritious charHc ter, whenever the rainy season has set in, and at all times, wherever, as q. Su. phur Springs, moisture is found in sui fcisnt quantity in the soil. The imms- diste slopes of the San Pedro Valley are densely covered with Airiplex, Larcoba- tus, Lu.edn, GIG. while the flats along ,he river produce heavy crops of ;he or dinary cereal grains, garden vegetables and fruit. Thesce 10 Tucson Inc coun- try becomes more sandy, and the Cheno podissese give was largely tD the Oreo- sote bush (Larrea Mexioans) and vsri- ous species of Csctscea.
 From Tucson south, the plsin again rises until at Tubsc it reaches about B. 900 feet, and east of the Santa Rita old Csmp Oriitenden stands st an elevation of 4,74q feet. Here we leave the nrea of the Colorado river and enter another sloping to- ward MexIco.
 Intimately connected with this slope of the continent to the south, is the geo distribution of the forest growth. Itsppesrs that ihe one factor Uf all others in the problem Rs io what shall be assigned as the lowest limit of timber, is the lowest point on the plain to which sufficient moisture shall reach. | Hence it does not surprise one 70 find | the lowest limit of coniferous vegetation | ranging somewhat in this manner as one goes south:
 LOWER LIMIT OF IREEs
 Fect. | south ParE, CniorEdo--- | Mocolion Mess, A. I. IPinus ponderosal $50 |
 do do do sx0O | Camp c, ant, A. T, (Pinus pondsrosaJ-----.65dO Q | do do do (Oaksl ------.---------- 500 | Camp Crittenden. A, T. (Pinus ronderUs-l -ss0o l do do do tOakl--------------f7f9 |
 In other words, where the plain break, | up into a vell-defined mountain range or